Empire of Trebizond

The Empire of Trebizond was a Byzantine rump state in northern Asia Minor which existed from 1204 to 1461, with Trebizond serving as its capital. Its first ruler was Alexios I of Trebizond, a member of the House of Comnenus, who seized control of Trebizond shortly before the Sack of Constantinople. While the Trapezuntine emperors claimed to rule over the restored Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire of Nicaea regarded the Empire of Trebizond as a Lazican dynasty instead. In 1282, Emperor John II of Trebizond forfeit its claim to the Roman Empire after Nicaea conquered Constantinople from the Latin Empire, and it became the longest-lived Byzantine successor state. In 1461, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed I conquered Trebizond after a month-long siege, marking the end of the 1,488-year-old Roman Empire.